EDITORIAL: Blumenthal trips self on military service

Journal Register News Service

Published 12:00 am, Wednesday, May 19, 2010

There's no question that what Richard Blumenthal said at a 2008 ceremony in Norwalk honoring the military is untrue. "We have learned something important since the days that I served in Vietnam," the state's attorney general stated in a clear, precise voice.

Blumenthal did not serve in Vietnam. After his student and occupational draft deferments ran out, he joined the Marine Corps Reserve. He was assigned first to a unit in Washington, then to one in New Haven while he attended Yale University's School of Law.

The New York Times, which broke the story about the claims of Vietnam service, also quotes remarks Blumenthal, a Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate, made at a 2003 military rally that implied he served overseas. It also quotes the Shelton Weekly as reporting in 2008 that Blumenthal "spoke about his experience as a Marine sergeant in Vietnam."

Blumenthal was a sergeant in the Marine Corps Reserve, but did not serve in Vietnam.

There is no record of Blumenthal attempting to correct his 2008 statement in Norwalk or other reports, including one in the New Haven Register

July 20, 2006, that he served in Vietnam.

The Register report, however, was a parenthetical statement that was not attributed to Blumenthal.

Chris Healey, the state Republican Party chairman, has said Blumenthal lied. Rob Simmons, a Republican candidate for the Senate, said he was "deeply troubled" by the report Blumenthal had misrepresented his service. Simmons earned two Bronze Stars during Army service in Vietnam.

Fair enough. But, the implication that Blumenthal is a serial liar about his military service is unfair and remains unproven. This seems more about a politician empathizing too much with his audience.

His service is accurately described in his official biography, and Blumenthal has stated his role accurately at other events honoring the military and at the debate this year for candidates for the Democratic nomination for the Senate.

Blumenthal has no need to embellish his record. The state's attorney general for 20 years, he consistently has won the most votes on the Democratic ticket. His statements about Vietnam service are an embarrassment, but a fleeting one that should weigh lightly in the minds of voters if he becomes, as is likely, the Democrats' candidate for Senate.